Leopold boys advance to consolation final with pair of victories

The Leopold Wildcats defeated the Advance Hornets 52-48 in the consolation semifinal of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Both teams headed to overtime tied at 44-44. Leopold outscored Advance 8-4 in OT, mostly from the free throw line, to take the win and head to Day 4 for the first time since 2009 and the consolation championship against Oran.

Wildcats head coach Jimmy Lincoln said those free throws were huge down the stretch.

“We hit the big one to tie it, which was huge. Preston went and got a big offensive rebound, because we shot and missed, and he got a big board, he got fouled, and he hit the free throw,” Lincoln said. “Once we got into overtime I felt like we really refocused, we got a good stop and once you get a lead in overtime it's important to hit those shots.”

Preston Campbell led the way for the offense, scoring 17 points, including the game clinching free throws in overtime.

Leopold was more physical every step of the way, with their rebounding and inside scoring ability leading to the victory.

Advance got things going early with a three from Brodie Rodgers before the teams traded baskets during small runs. Leopold got more offense by grabbing every rebound away from the Hornets and led 13-9 after one.

The second quarter was all Wildcats. They got inside and scored on nearly every possession, taking just one outside shot for three.

Leopold continued to control the boards, not allowing the Hornets many rebounds and holding a 26-13 halftime lead.

Lincoln said he liked his team’s ability to play through adversity, especially since two of his starters were injured.

“We played really well early, our kids came ready to play tonight. We built up a nice lead, and then I felt like Advance really picked it up in the second half, the press really hurt us. We got to do a better job on that,” Lincoln said. “It was the third game in three days and we lost two starters last week, so we're limited on the bench. I'm proud of our guys, when you're that limited on the bench, it's hard to come back here for three days. We’re just happy to be on to day four.”

The third quarter was all Advance as they outscored Leopold 16-6 to shrink the lead to 3 at 32-29.

Advance tied the game early in the fourth through a stout press defense getting them easy buckets. The Hornets ran into foul trouble putting the Wildcats on the line several times.

Wildcats survive upset scare, top Braves 47-46

Scott County Central had a chance to force overtime. Leopold did just enough to stay alive.

Preston Campbell had 22 points, junior Riley Engelen hit a late clutch shot and Leopold boys’ basketball outlasted the Braves 47-46 in the first round of consolations at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Friday morning at the Show Me Center.

Engelen’s go-ahead layup with four seconds left cemented the victory, validating coach Jimmy Lincoln’s belief that his team is poised to improve down the stretch despite being young and banged up.

“Overall, I'm proud of the kids,” Lincoln said. “It was a good game. I felt like we played hard. We came out and in the beginning I don't think we guarded real well. We kind of settled for 3s a little bit. But as the game progressed, we started getting to the basket and if you'd have told me when the season started that, ‘hey, we're 5-5 and we're playing in Day 3,’ we'd have took it. We had five seniors on the team last year. Four were starters, so we've kind of started from scratch. I’m happy where we're at right now.”

SCC senior Trevor Brown was fouled as time ran out in regulation after missing a game-tying 3-pointer. After rimming his first free throw, Brown sunk his second before missing his third to bow the Braves out of the tournament.

Campbell’s jumper off a missed foul shot with 2:50 left put Leopold up by three before Engelen made two free throws with 40 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 45-42 advantage. That’s until SCC star Cortavian Banks drained a long-distance 3 with 30 seconds left to tie things at 45 apiece. The senior finished with a team-high 17 points.

“When you’ve got somebody like Banks, you can't relax,” Lincoln said. “And when you're playing Scott Central, I don't care what team they have, they have a tradition. They see it. They walk in the gym every day, and they know what the tradition is. And when you got the best player on the court, bar none, he can take a game over.”

But the Wildcats did enough to hold him off as Engelen’s layup then put Leopold ahead to stay.

“You’ve got to give a shout out to Riley Engelen, No. 20, who hit that shot,” Lincoln said. “He didn't play last year, so he hasn't played since his freshman year. We are blessed to get him to come out and he's been a staple for us. And so, for him to take that ball to the basket and get the shot and put it in was big.”

Leopold has now defeated the Braves in two of the previous three meetings.